Ledge



(No Model.)

J W. RUTLEDGE.

\ GATE. No. 880,636. Patented Apr. 3, 1888.

INVENTOR: Md 2/ BY MM Zgi ATTORNEYS.

WITNESES extended at I beyond the hinge-post.

llnrrn Sterne Pnrniv'r @rrrcn.

JOl-l-N VFILLTAM RUTLEDGE, OF SHANNONDALE, INDIANA.

GATE.

SPECIFICATION ionizing par; of Letters Patent No. 386,636, dated April3,1888.

Application filed October 11, 1887.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Jenn WILLIAM RUT- LEDGE, of Shannondale, in thecounty ofMontgonlery and State of Indiana, liaveinvcnted a newand usefullmprovelnentin Gates,of which the following is a specification.

Myiuvention is an improvement in gates; and it consists in certainfeatnres of construction and novel combinations of parts, as will behereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of my llll1)1OVQll1 l1i,tll8 gate proper being shown closed in full lines and open in dottedlines. Fig. 2 is a detail view of one end of the gate, showing the latchmechanism,the motion thereof being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 isa detail viewof the rear upper edge of the top gate bar, showing thelever in position thereon; and Fig. 4 is a det-ailsection on about line:0 :c, Fig. 2.

The hinge-post A and the latch-post B are bolted securely to themud-sill G, which latter is sunk into the ground and extends at its endspast the posts Aand B, as shown in Fig. 1. To the mud-sill,imniediatelyin rear of the posts, I secure the crosssills D,which extendto 0pposite sides of the mud-sills, and the posts A and B are bracedfirmly in position by means of strut-braces a, which extend from theposts to the mudsills and the cross sills, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

On the inner face of the latchpost 13,1 provide,usually by means of acleat, b, a notch,E, to receive the point of the latch, presentlydescribed, and similar notches are provided on posts F, placed alongsidethe roadway or ap proach to the gate, and on opposite sides of thelatter. I also provide pulley-supporting posts G,which serve as guidesfor the operating-cords g, which are passed over the guidepulleys of theposts G and depend therefrom at one end, having such ends provided withknobs orhand-liolds,whicli maybe shortchains, if desired. The gateproper, H,is hinged atone end to the hinge-post A, and has its topbalyh, The

latch Jis movable at one end past the swinging edge of the gate, beingsupported in suitable guides, and being actuated by coil-spring j,whichserves to force the latch normally out- Serial No. 252,094. (No model.)

ward to enter the notches E of the latch-post or of the posts F.

To the gate below the latch I pivot one end of a lever, K, which extendsup past and engages said latchusuall y by being pivoted thcreto andprojects up ward above the gate, extending preferably through akeeper-slot,7c, the walls of which operate to guide and properly limitits movement. To the upper end of this lever is connected a wire, rod,orcord, L, preferably a wire, as shown, which extends along the top of thegate toward and past the hinge thereof, and is connected at its oppositeend with the main arm in ofatriple armed or Y-Shaped lever, M.

The guides Z, provided on the gate for the connection L, insure themovement of such connection in a straight line and in line with the topof the gate. This construction avoids any drawing of the upper end oflever K to either side by the turning of lever M on its pivot, and thusrenders the operation of the latch easy and certain, as will be seen. Itwill be readily understood that if the connection between the lever Kand the lever M were not guided and held in line with the top of thegate the movement of the arm at of lever M to one side or theothcr'would operate in a measure to draw the upper end of lever K to oneor the other side, causing the said lever K,in a measure,to bind, and tosuch extent impeding its action.

The lever M has the main arm at and the branches or arms m diverging atequal angles from the main arm, and the lever is pivoted at the junctureof its said arms to the rear extension,l,of the gate. Theoperating-cords 9 connect with the branches m, the several parts beingarranged as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The triple-armed lever is especially desirable, the rear branches,mm,projecting to opposite sides and connecting with the cords g on suchsides. By reason of these two arms,it will be seen that whether one orthe other of the branches m be drawn upon it will first tilt the lever Mslightly to open the latch,whieh slight movement will bring the branch minto line with the connection y, when drawing on said cord will notoperate further to turn thelever, except such slight turning as resultsfrom the lever so as to first move the latch out of the.

notch E of the latch-post, and then turn the gate on its hinge, when itwill move open in the direction away from the approaching person, and,when at its extreme open position will engage, by its latch,with and beheld by the post F. By drawing on the operating-cord on the oppositesideof the gate it will be moved to the closed position and be held by thenotch of thelatch-post. It will be seen that whether the person approachthe gate from one side or the other it will open away from him, as isdesired.

Manifestly while the connection between the main arm of the triple-armedlever and the latch is effected through the intervention of the lever Ksuch lever might be omitted without departing from some of the broadfeatures the hinge or pivotal center thereof, and having arm m, and armsm m, diverging from the rear end of arm m, the angles of both said armsm m to the arm m being approximately the same, a connection, L, unitingthe arm at with the latch, and operating-cords connected with the armsm, substantially as set forth.

2. The, combination of the gate, hinged or pivoted and provided with arearwardly-projected extension, the latch, the triple-armed leverpivoted on the rear extension of said gate, the connection between themain arm of said lever and the latch, and the operatingcords connectedwith the branches of said lever, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the gate having a rear extension, I, and providedwith guides for the latch, thelatch movable in said guides past theswinging edge of the gate, the lever pivoted to the gate below thelatch, extended up past and engaged with the latch and projected,

JOHN l/VILLIAM RUTLEDGE.

Witnesses:

O. D. SHANNON, W. H. BURROUGHS.

